


Pronoia

by MayaMarkova



Series: The Prophecies of Prometheus [2]
Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: Creation Myth, F/M, Gen, Nymphs - Freeform, War of the Titans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaMarkova/pseuds/MayaMarkova
Summary: In the eve of the Meeting at Mecone, Prometheus narrates (well, brags) to his wife Pronoia how he created the current generation of humans.
Relationships: Prometheus/Pronoia
Series: The Prophecies of Prometheus [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995868
Kudos: 4





	Pronoia

The humans had survived after all, and were doing well. Maybe even too well. One night soon after the winter turn of the sun, Prometheus had a real-time vision. It was not of the humans but of his Olympian friends, sitting by Hestia’s fireplace and talking. According to their conversation, the humans had reproduced so much that the ash forest had become too narrow for them, and they had killed off the game. Zeus had allowed them to resettle in the nearby plains and had told Hermes to give them some livestock so that they would not starve. He also intended to put an official end to their field trial in the spring. Athena and Hephaestus rejoiced at the news and wished that they could report it to Prometheus immediately. Artemis, however, was furious and said that Zeus should never have let any of “these pests” leave the ash forest alive. Instead, after bringing out of it all nymphs and satyrs, it should have been surrounded by sentinels to keep the humans inside until most of them would starve or kill and eat each other. When only a few would remain, they would “suffer the fate of the Silver Generation”. Hebe scolded her sister for these bloodthirsty ideas and said that with a little goodwill and efforts, all could coexist happily.

One wonderful day in the late spring, Hermes showed up with the message.

‘Hail! Prometheus, Zeus orders us to go to Mecone tomorrow. We’ll meet with your humans to settle our terms with them. We are departing from Olympus at sunrise, and you can join us when we pass. Don’t take your wife with you,’ he looked at Pronoia, ‘we are going to do business. We are expected to return in three or four days, five at most.’

‘So Zeus has declared the field trial of humans over?’ Prometheus asked.

‘Yes.’

‘It was about time. Has he said what he would demand from me?’

‘No, he hasn’t said anything about you, just told me to summon everybody. Without your brother, of course, and without Peneus, who is still mourning his daughter, though he should already get over this, but otherwise everybody.’

‘My brother – you mean Epimetheus?’

‘Of course. Whom else?’

‘I have other brothers as well.’

‘Oh please! You are wasting my time!’ Hermes complained. It was of course clear that he had meant Epimetheus, who was available but would not be summoned by anybody for any sort of work. Prometheus’ two other brothers, Atlas and Menoetius, did not count, because after the War of the Titans the former was exiled and the latter was imprisoned. Prometheus mentioned them only to resist the frightening tendency of Olympians to forget their vanquished opponents, as if they no longer existed.

Pronoia took issue with another part of Hermes’ message: 

‘You sound like an expert in coping with deaths in the family. How many of your loved ones have died and you have got over it? Just asking.’

Hermes sighed, looking annoyed.

‘Happily, nobody I love has died. And one of the reasons is that I do not marry to produce kids who would die in the first minor accident, and maybe even spontaneously. If you decide to have mortal progeny, you should learn to live with the consequences – this is my opinion. How can anything get done if everyone fit to work is busy mourning dead mortals? Simple logic. But it is impossible to shove logic into a pretty little female head. That’s why we are not bringing any goddesses to Mecone.’

Prometheus thought that this little speech was too coherent to be composed by Hermes – he was most likely repeating his father’s words. Pronoia looked furious. She and her husband had just returned from a solemn ceremony with which Peneus and Creusa had marked the tenth anniversary of Daphne’s death. And she didn’t take lightly any foolish remarks by males about females. She opened her mouth, but Hermes continued:

‘By the way, you have a private shipment from Hebe, some needlework.’

Pronoia left aside the disagreements, thanked him and took the parcel. Hermes said goodbye and left, apparently unwilling to be involved in any more arguments.

Pronoia sat down on the garden bench to see her present. On the outside, all that could be seen was white linen cloth, bent several times. However, as soon as she unfolded it, other things appeared: three needles, a set of bright-colored threads, and a sheet with an embroidery pattern. Something was written on its back. Pronoia read it and called her husband:

‘Come to see something! It is for you. In fact, I think that Hebe has sent the entire parcel because of this message. She had to entrust it to Hermes and made it look unsuspicious – well, relatively unsuspicious.’

Prometheus took the sheet and read Hebe’s meticulous handwriting:

_“Hail, Pronoia! Needlework has become my latest infatuation. Athena taught me. I can already repeat every pattern, even the most complex, and I create new ones. I am sending you one of them, so you can try if you want. I am very proud of my achievements, but I cannot boast of them to my dad, because he is not interested in embroidery at all. I wish I were like Apollo, who has quite different achievements. He has written a book about the structure of the body, with a lot of color illustrations. Dad had recently scolded him because of the unfortunate affairs with poor Marsyas and Daphne. In fact, dad initially said that Marsyas’ punishment was a good lesson for the various satyrs and the like, to know their place, and Daphne should not have refused an Olympian, who did she think she was? Only later he started to blame Apollo for reacting beyond measure and making the hive buzz. But when Apollo showed him the book, dad was delighted. He said that Apollo was a great scholar and knew most of all, including Iapetus’ brat, who shouldn’t really be so arrogant. So please tell Prometheus to be careful and not to annoy dad at Mecone and generally. Otherwise, nothing interesting here. The high meadows are all covered with crocuses, it’s a pity that you do not come to see them. Yours, Hebe.”_

‘You are right,’ Prometheus said. ‘She sent this message solely as a warning.’

‘Will you heed it?’

‘I will keep it in mind, but cannot accept it entirely. I intend to use the occasion to talk to Zeus about my father and Menoetius. This will surely annoy him, but I cannot miss the opportunity. The last one was that hunt, and I of course could not use it.’

Pronoia nodded. She bit her lips but did not try to dissuade her husband. She knew he just had to ask Zeus again to release his father and brother, though it was not expected to have any useful effect except, maybe, to ease his conscience a little. Ages ago, he had taken Zeus’ side in the War of the Titans. He owed his present freedom to this choice and nevertheless considered it the mistake of his life. Zeus had promised to his followers who had loved ones in the enemy camp that after the victory, as soon as he had stable power, he would pardon the defeated adversaries. The vague terms of the promise rendered it meaningless, but Prometheus had not realized this until it was too late.

There was also another thing that concerned Pronoia.

‘I know that it is not nice to say “I told you”, but I have never liked that you leave in the library a copy of all your writings. Zeus has tolerated you so far only because he knew you were irreplaceable. And now Apollo has educated himself and I am sure that your works have helped him!’

‘You have some right,’ Prometheus admitted, ‘but knowledge must be shared. Otherwise, no advance would be possible. If we have a better view on things today, this is because we are standing on the shoulders of the previous generation.’

‘And where is this generation now?’

The question was rhetorical, so Prometheus didn’t answer. Of the six male titans of the previous generation, five were imprisoned in Tartarus, including Prometheus’ father Iapetus. Only Pronoia’s father Oceanus had remained free. Always prudent, he had stayed aside from the war and had cared for the non-combatants of both sides – women, children and the likes of Epimetheus. Pronoia avoided talking about these events so that not to remind her husband of his mistakes. The fact that she returned to the unpleasant topic now showed how worried she was. After a brief awkward silence, she changed the subject.

‘Where is Mecone?’ she asked.

‘In the peninsula, not far from the Isthmus.’ Prometheus took out the map and showed it to her.

‘How do you think, why has Zeus chosen a place so far away for the meeting with the humans?’

‘He gathered us there to assign duties after the end of the war. Because the lands between Olympus and Othrys and even beyond were devastated, while Mecone was unharmed. I suppose that Zeus is now calling us to the same place because he likes traditions. Though I didn’t expect him to consider humans so important.’

‘Is it true that you have created humans? I have heard this before, and Hermes also called them “yours”. I thought it had been team work.’

‘It was. Athena, Hephaestus and me, with Athena officially in charge. But it is true that I did the most important part of the work, the thread of life. And then Zeus laid the entire responsibility on me because he didn’t like those particular humans. Had he liked them, Hermes would have called them Athena’s.’

‘Aren’t all humans the same?’

‘No. Each generation, if we call it this way, is a separate race. The present humans, called Bronze or Ash-tree, are the third generation. The first one appeared during the rule of Cronus, at about the same time as the centaurs and apparently also created in some Glass Hall. It is interesting that they were all male...’

‘How did they reproduce, then?’

‘They didn’t. I suppose that their creator, whoever he was, was still working on them. He was apparently testing new variations with small differences to adjust them properly before adding the females. However, this moment never came. The last of these men died in the war.’

‘Did they take part in it?’

‘No, but their habitats became battlefields. And when Zeus started throwing thunderbolts and ignited wildfires, the humans had no chance. It was for a reason that we then travelled to Mecone to escape the devastation. Now, it is often said that the first humans were excellent, and they are called the Golden Generation. There is not a single survivor of them, so you can believe legends all you want. In reality, even the latest and most advanced specimens were like two-legged cattle. Their brains corresponded to less than half of ours.’

‘Poor things! Someone should have evacuated them.’

‘After the war, there were no humans for quite a long time. However, after Hephaestus returned and joined Athena in the Glass Hall, Zeus ordered them to create a second generation of humans. It was later called “Silver”.’

‘Did you take part in its creation?’

‘No. Zeus had ordered me out of the Glass Hall before this because of the ambrosia affair, so Athena and Hephaestus created the Silver humans without me. They didn’t even tell me what they were working on, because Zeus had ordered them to keep it secret. He told them to create on animal background a being similar to us but with slightly weaker mind and mortal. Not as clever as us, but more clever than the satyrs. Athena and Hephaestus assembled the human thread of life by taking parts from various beasts. Then they introduced hundreds of changes to connect the pieces together and to give it the desired characteristics.’

‘Sounds like a lot of work.’

‘Tremendous work, but the result was not satisfactory. Athena figured out that one of the preconditions for our intelligence is the long childhood, so she prolonged human childhood as much as possible. Therefore the Silver humans remained children for almost a hundred years, powerless and stupid. Their brains not only had just two thirds of our brain volume but started to degenerate before being fully developed.’

‘Who took care of them for so long?’

‘The ash-tree nymphs who became their mothers. But they did not expect their duty to last so long. Worse, once the Silver humans reached adulthood, they had short and not very sensible lives. They were good for nothing and only scuffled between themselves. No wonder that they could not survive.’

‘What caused their extinction?’

‘I don’t know exactly and I don’t think anyone has researched this. At least, there is nothing in the library. But I am not surprised – poorly adapted beings do not survive for long in nature. After their extinction, Zeus told Athena and Hephaestus to create a third human generation, and to make it better. This time he didn’t demand it to be secret and they complained to me that at least twenty years of hard work were awaiting them, with no guarantee of success. Then I proposed, instead of assembling a thread of life with pieces from cattle, dogs and whatever else, and obtaining an unfit creature at the end, to use pitheci. Zeus told me, after I knew so much, to supply the pitheci myself. So I did.’

‘How did you know about the pitheci?’

‘I had first heard about them from your sisters inhabiting the southern shores of the sea. Then I saw them myself when I traveled with Helios into the Southern Lands just before the war. They had clever eyes and skilful hands, like us. So I singled them out as the correct animal background to create a being similar to us. During my second journey, I caught three specimens, a male and two females.’

‘How did you catch them?’

‘I inebriated them with wine and put them in cages. Zeus had apparently considered the pitheci legendary creatures and was quite surprised to see them. He ordered me to temporarily give up my usual work and take part in the creation of humans. So after many years I saw the Glass Hall from inside again.’

‘What exactly did you do with the pitheci? Did they survive it?’

‘Yes and no. We took samples of their threads of life to serve as raw material for human ones. Then I wanted to bring the pitheci back to the place of their capture and release them. But Zeus didn’t allow this travel for pleasure, as he called it. He gave the poor animals to Apollo and they were never seen or heard of again.’

‘Apollo has always sent shivers down my spine, even before he became a killer. Please don’t mess with him!’

‘I won’t, unless he starts first.’

‘What did you change in the pithecine thread of life to create humans?’

‘I adjusted the time course of their development, to be balanced if short. I increased their body size to approximate ours, increased their muscle strength, and set their brains to be equal in volume to ours, even a little larger, because the muscles required it. I inserted into their threads of life little bits of ours responsible for upright walking and for our unique abilities, such as speech. I also rearranged the pieces of their threads of life to be like ours.’

‘And what did Athena and Hephaestus do?’

‘They inserted the threads of life into tiny embryos which were given to be carried to birth by the ash-tree nymphs who had helped with the Silver Generation, then observed them after the birth. A total of fourteen embryos were obtained, seven female and seven male ones, but only eight babies were born.’

Pronoia frowned.

‘Did you really have to recruit the nymphs?’

‘Yes, we did. We cannot manage development in glassware. Not for now, at least. Every embryo needs a womb to develop. Without the nymphs, no human would ever see the light of day. And even after they were born, they needed their mothers for years.’

‘I understand. But I find it repulsive that you have forced defenseless nymphs to serve as broodmares. If your project was so important for Zeus, he could convince a bunch of Olympian goddesses. They lived there anyway, and also had wombs.’

‘Well, you know him and his divisions into “higher” and “lower”. Besides, there was another reason. The humans were meant to live down with nymphs, not up with Olympians, so it made sense for them to be born and cared for by nymphs. By the way, the mothers were not forced to participate. Zeus realized that such work could succeed only if done by free will, so he promised the nymphs a reward in exchange for their help: nice dwellings, food supplies and warm blankets. At the end, however, they got nothing.’

‘Why am I not surprised? Tell me what happened.’

‘I didn’t see it first-hand, because as soon as I finished my part, Zeus ordered me to leave Olympus and resume my usual work. But my friends later told me. Zeus let the nymphs care for the human children until their full weaning at age four. This corresponded to our six-year olds, because Bronze humans developed faster than us. The reasonable thing would be to observe them for a decade or so more, then release them together with their nymph mothers to be tested in natural conditions, the so-called field trial. But Zeus said that nymphs were too doting mothers and this had ruined the Silver Generation. So he ordered them to go back to their forest without the humans. They refused, because they had become attached to the humans as if to their own children. He warned them that they would be deprived of their reward if they disobeyed. The nymphs answered that they did not want the reward that much, what they wanted was to be with their children. They clasped his knees, touched his chin and begged him, but he did not relent. He called Kratos and Bia to take the children by force. So the nymphs had to go home empty-handed – no reward and no children.’

‘What happened to the humans?’

‘After they were ripped out of their mothers’ arms, they were inconsolable for a long time and, according to Athena and Hephaestus, never recovered fully. They grew but did not attach to anyone and barely spoke. The latter could actually have been my fault. After I had finished my work, I reviewed it and saw that I had botched a transfer. When you work with animals, every bit of the thread of life you transfer must be flanked at both sides by long flaps, otherwise it will not work correctly and may not work at all. And I had trimmed too much one fragment needed for speech. But it was too late to do anything. Anyway, when the humans turned fifteen and almost reached adult size – like our twenty-year olds, Zeus came to evaluate them. I was also called for the occasion and saw them for first and only time.’

‘How did they look?’

‘I was partial and found them perfect. But they spoke only in single words, and their gaze was cautious and sullen, almost wild. They didn’t seem to love us much. Not that they had any reason to. Zeus disliked them at first sight and wanted them killed immediately.’

‘Why?’

‘He said that he had heard us say that goals in science are achieved by trial and error. These dull, stubborn and hubristic humans were an error. Therefore, he said, we had to discard them and make more trials until a proper result is obtained. Athena and Hephaestus objected, but he didn’t want to listen. Then I made a scandal. I reminded him that we had worked on this task for more than a decade without rest, barely taking time to eat and sleep. Then he had damaged our creatures by prematurely separating them from their mothers, though they would hopefully recover in a better environment or, at worst, in the next generation. But instead, he wanted to destroy them without even a field trial. I called this an insult to us and a mockery of our hard work. Zeus caught me at my word: “You want a field trial? So be it. Start it – immediately! Your errors must be free in nature before sunset.”’

‘I wonder how he let you convince him so easily.’

‘He could of course impose his will, but he hates scandals. On the other hand, he wanted to prove me wrong, to show that the humans created by me were unfit. He knew they were too young for independent life and totally unprepared to survive in nature, so he expected the problem to solve itself. To cap it all, winter was coming. We brought the humans to the ash forest and left them there, asking every nymph we met to find them and help them. Not that we really expected the locals to share their scarce food with our humans.’

‘Their mothers surely would.’

‘We hoped so. But the humans had grown and changed a lot, and nymphs have poor long-term memory. So we thought we had seen the last of the Bronze Generation. Athena and Hephaestus were very angry at me. They said that it would have been better to slaughter the humans quickly than to let them starve and freeze in the forest, and that my pride had doomed them to slow agonizing death. I told them that there was still a chance, but feared they were right. However, at least some of the humans have survived and reproduced, to the point that Zeus can no longer ignore them.’

‘Why didn’t you check on them later?’

‘The field trial rules forbade it. Only the locals – that is, nymphs and satyrs of the ash forest – were allowed to contact the humans and offer them help during the trial.’

Pronoia stood silent for some time, thinking over what she had heard, then asked:

‘I think I understand how you created the humans, but I don’t understand why. Why did Zeus want them?’

‘I don’t really know. He told me that they were to support the mortal descendants of immortals – nymphs, satyrs and the like. At that time, it sounded logical to me. However, I reflected on it later and realized that Zeus could not muster such benevolence. He had promised the most wonderful things before he came to power, but once he had it, he never used it to do any good. So his true motivation must have been different, but I cannot even guess what. Athena and Hephaestus seem to know more, but do not tell me what they know.’

‘Why do you think that nymphs and satyrs need support?’

‘Are you serious? Most of them can barely look after themselves. And it’s only getting worse with time.’

‘Yes, but I mean, why is it so?’

‘The thread of life of the descendants of Uranus and Gaea is deteriorating. This is why humans were created on an animal background. Animal threads of life are stable.’

‘So Zeus indeed had a good excuse when he gave you the task. However, this problem was less apparent at the time of the Silver Generation and not known at all when the Golden Generation was created. And I suppose that the motivation behind the creation of humans has been the same every time.’

‘This makes sense. It is interesting that, ever since I remember myself, always some humans are created, released into nature, live there for some time and after their extinction, a new and somewhat different version is created, and you are the first person I hear to ask why.’

‘Your father has had and applied knowledge, like you. I suppose that he has taken part in the creation of the Golden humans. Hasn’t he told you anything about it?’

‘No. Whenever I asked about the things he knew, he said that knowledge without common sense is troublesome, so I shouldn’t get more of the former until I acquire some of the latter. I guess he had a point.’

‘Maybe he had. But to me, this sounds like he was engaged in things that were not quite right, or at least he knew you would not approve them. So he somehow managed to blame you for even asking. He apparently thought that you should just shut up and do what you are told.’

‘Do you think that it was a mistake to create humans?’

‘Not necessarily. But I think it was a mistake to create them without first discussing it widely. Sentient beings with size and strength comparable to ours concern us all, so we all should have had a say. Not just two or three immortals following an order by Zeus. I even fear that, if something goes wrong with the humans, he may deny that he ordered them. Were there any witnesses when he gave you the task?’

‘No, but I requested the order in a written form.’

‘This at least you did right. This, and your wish to release the pitheci, and also your defense of the humans when Zeus wanted them killed.’

‘I am glad that you think so. Because, from what you just said, it seemed to me that you also don’t want them to exist.’

‘The catch is, they already exist. You cannot uncreate them. So the question whether it was the right thing to create them or not is irrelevant. Now, we just have to accept them.’ She laughed. ‘If the Golden Generation had not been created under Cronus, I’d think that Zeus just wanted more females to prey on when he runs out of goddesses and nymphs. You know, he needs change.’

‘I don’t think he’ll like these females. Bronze humans are not beautiful from our point of view. They are brawny, stumpy, lacking chins, with protruded eyebrows and jaws and quite shaggy – both the males and the females. I wanted them to be strong and resilient, not beautiful. Like Kratos and Bia, but smaller. Anyway, we’ll see. If after some time little chinless Zeuses appear among the humans, we’ll know that Zeus indeed likes human females.’

Pronoia almost jumped when she heard this.

‘You mean that gods and humans can interbreed?!’

‘Yes, if I have done my work properly.’

‘Was this included in Zeus’ written order?’

‘Not explicitly. But it did say they were to live among nymphs and satyrs. To me, this implied interbreeding. Otherwise, they’d be competitors and maybe outright enemies, and this was quite the opposite of the stated goal. And if a creature can interbreed with nymphs and satyrs, it can interbreed with us as well. Actually, to make interbreeding possible was the hardest part of my work. And I cannot be sure whether I have succeeded until – eh, until it is actually tried.’

Pronoia was staring at him in blank amazement. Finally she said:

‘Prometheus, you know how much I love you, but you are crazy!’

‘Everybody says so, though I wonder why. What I did was logical.’

‘And what exactly did you do to make interbreeding possible?’

‘As I already mentioned, I rearranged the human thread of life. I repackaged it from forty-two pieces, as in the pitheci, to forty-six, as in us. I also made additional rearrangements to make pieces of human thread of life align properly with the pieces of our thread of life. Otherwise, even if crosses could be obtained, they would be unable to reproduce further, like the mules.’

‘And now, what will a cross between a god and a human look like?’

‘I cannot be sure.’

‘But what do you expect?’

‘I hope that it will be healthy and fertile. Actually, the first generation is expected to be ambrosia-dependent or mortal but otherwise exceeding both parents in all respects.’

‘Did you tell Zeus what you had done?’

‘No.’

‘Did you mention to anyone else? To Athena and Hephaestus at least?’

‘No. I didn’t discuss much my work with them.’

‘A fine team you three have been! They don’t tell you what they know, and you don’t tell them what you do. I thought there was some trust between you and them, at least in matters related to your work.’

‘I did trust them, but the demise of the Silver Generation had saddened them and they thought we were doomed to fail. When you work on something big, you must stay away from all who expect a failure. Otherwise, you’ll catch their broken spirit and prove them right.’

‘Then, I advise you to deny that you have done the rearrangement and to pretend that ability of humans to interbreed with us has somehow appeared spontaneously.’

‘Impossible. I have described my work in the diaries of the Glass Hall and, moreover, the first glance at the human thread of life will reveal changes that cannot have occurred by themselves.’

‘Then, say that you have aligned the pieces for easier comparison, or something of the sort. You seem not to realize what a big deal interbreeding is! I bet that neither the Golden nor the Silver Generation have had this ability.’

‘Oh, I already told you that they were full of defects. The Bronze Generation also has its defects, but overall is incomparably better.’

‘You are proud of them, and rightly so. But please do not become too attached to them! They are no longer a bunch of kids under a death threat. They have proved able to fend for themselves. And I do not trust Zeus’ intentions – to them, to you or to anyone! Whatever he dislikes in them, will be blamed on you.’ 

In the evening, Prometheus wrote in his diary:

_I have a premonition that this meeting at Mecone will be important. Maybe even more important than the first one._

Nevertheless, he was not particularly worried. But in the morning Pronoia looked anxious and had dark shadows beneath the eyes, as if she had not slept well.

‘You will make an effort not to quarrel with Zeus, won’t you?’ she asked, as she was preparing his backpack.

‘Of course I will. Why do you think that I want very much to quarrel with him?’

‘This can happen too easily, want it or not. His mind is labyrinthine, with evil lurking inside. You must be very careful.’

Prometheus noted her fear. She was initially named Hesione, but after she repelled Zeus by pretending to be mad, the immortals started calling her Pronoia, Foresighted. When shortly afterwards Prometheus married her, his friends joked that he had sought a bride with a similar name. And the name was well deserved. She did not talk much, but one would better listen to her words, or ignore them at his peril. He tried to reassure her:

‘I used to meet him every year, when I submitted the results of my work. And nothing disastrous happened.’

‘But you haven’t seen him for many years. Many good years! What does he want from you? You do all the work that he has given to you. Why is he calling you now? Cannot he just let us live here in peace?’

‘You are exaggerating. You heard Hermes, didn’t you? This is not about me, everybody is called.’

‘I wish I could also come. I’d feel better.’

‘Even if you were there, if something is to happen, what could you do about it?’ pointed out Prometheus and immediately regretted.

‘Please remember Hebe’s letter and stay safe!’ she begged, as she was handing him the backpack.

‘I’ll try my best!’ he replied. He could not promise anything more. He wished to tell Pronoia that there was nothing to worry about, but they both knew that there were very good reasons to worry. Because Zeus was the Thunderer, he did whatever he wished and nobody could stop him. Such were the days of old, and he who has not lived through them can hardly even imagine them now.

**Author's Note:**

> The creation of humans - Prometheus, the original Frankenstein (but he is proud of his monsters). Based mostly on Hesiod's _Works and Days_ and a few enigmatic verses from Aeschylus' _Prometheus Bound_ (230-240) plus modern science. To make the latter a little less conspicuous, I have used the Greek word for "primate". The primate in question is the Barbary macaque _Macaca sylvanus_ , a species easily accessible from Europe, unlike the great apes that would do a better job. It has 42 chromosomes (incidentally, a number sacred in science fiction after Douglas Adams). As usual in this series, "thread of life" is DNA.  
> The initial number of human founders (14, 7 of each sex) is from Mesopothamian mythology. The method of catching monkeys is from a fragment by Aristotle. The Golden, Silver and Bronze Generations are given brain volumes corresponding resp. to _Homo habilis_ , _H. erectus_ and the Neanderthals. The physical description of the Bronze humans is also suited to the Neanderthals. The speech-related gene mentioned is real, officially known as [FoxP2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOXP2). And I couldn't resist the bit about "shoulders of giants".


End file.
